In the beginning they (Steve & friends) explored moving while in contact. Finding much to share, they decided to offer it up as an ongoing, open, evolving exploration with one operative- to take care of yourself, first. Caring for one’s self infers the entirety of one’s physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, etc. experience, as it is changing, in one and only now. And, since a first implies a second, it follows that we are to extend our caring to all that we’re connected to (think oxygen mask on an airplane).
Each explores moving while in contact, guided by what it means to care for one’s self in relationship! Exploration is infinite, unfolding and unique to each individual. Steve did what Steve did. You do what you do. Each owning their exploration contributes to the potential.
Rolling, sliding, pivoting, etc. at the point of contact are possible movement options* to explore, not what CI is.
CI is the dynamic, ever morphing dance that occurs when people connect and improvise while caring for all involved. It is deciding to meet and play with the diversity of our what is-es, guided by mutual respect and curiosity rather than rules and expectations. It trains us to attend to what is, as it is changing, and discover what else is possible. It trains us to be spacious and inclusive with the intent to care. It gives the paradigm altering possibility of mutual well-being in a time that begs for it. But, we have to show up and earn it as that is not how we’re hard-wired. It is a lifelong self-awareness practice in belonging and freedom.

Score. To organize intent, to rate outcome, to receive benefit. We’ll experiment with scoring our dances and explore the mind/body relationship? We all have one and we are each unique. What do we have in common, how do we differ?

The focus of naming my curiosity brings me closer to my experience of the here and now. In the here and now I enjoy the relaxation of being enough as I am. That is why I offer this research time.

I love to explore with others. I love how scores focus attention and expand options. Do you? If so, come. If not, are you curious? If not sure, come and find out!

All degrees of experience most welcome.

12-1 Potluck Lunch

4-7 C.I. Class/Jam as usual with added attraction of instruments available for immediate use to accompany the movement. And let’s potluck treats to celebrate 30 continuous years of Saturday Jamming!!

How many years have you been presenting your own dance works (choreographed or improvised)?

33 years- 7 in modern dance, 26 and counting in C.I. I’ll be describing the process of making dance performance pieces with Patrick Gracewood, my Contact Improvisation dance partner for over 20 years.

Define the phases of your project process from initial phase to final form:

We begin by noticing what is. This means arriving and beginning by noticing what we are noticing. We notice what calls our attention, what is happening, what wants to happen? The noticing is all-inclusive, so beginning may occur in any way. We have begun rehearsals dancing, but also sleeping, eating, crying, flying, talking, gawking….. We’re curious about what happens when we attend to what’s there, what wants to emerge. We follow that. Asking, allowing, noticing- going where it takes us. Acknowledging where we are takes us where we need to go. We watch the process unfold. We watch the process reveal the piece in all its elements; it’s nature, structure, sound, costume, environment etc. We notice when the piece is complete and how it wants to change as we perform it.

What would you say are the biggest obstacles for getting your work from the initial stages to an endpoint:

Forgetting to trust in the process. Various kinds of stress can cause us to forget that the process will show itself to us. When that happens we go into trying to make something up and have to work harder for a much less satisfying experience.

What would be the top three factors that have made your projects a success:

Remembering to notice what is, whatever that is. Trusting in, relaxing in the process. Following the process as it reveals itself.

What would be the top three factors that could cause distress during your process:

The primary factor is losing the fluid awareness of what is as it is changing. If a particular stress consumes the attention then that stress becomes distress instead of simply more information in the process. Such loss of perspective has occurred when facing things such as time constraints, forms of performance anxiety, unconscious expectations and assumptions, etc.

Working with other dancers either as a leader or in collaboration, how do you develop dances:

I let the noticing of what is lead and reveal. The majority of my experience has been in collaboration with one other, but the process I’m describing is also how we’ve worked with groups. I was creating modern dance pieces, solo and group, in much the same way, but had not identified the process yet.

Has there ever been a reason or situation that caused you not to be able to realize your project as you had hoped or imagined:

One phase of exploration was to dance ‘anybody, anywhere, anytime’. On numerous occasions particular non-negotiable rules or laws prevented us from realizing projects.

How has your process changed from your initial projects to your present process:

The process has remained the same; it happened to us. Change came in the need to recognize and name it. This happened when we started working with other dancers. We quickly recognized that our process was unusual and therefore needed to be defined to avoid confusion and frustration. We needed to articulate the idea of being present with curiosity and awareness as a means to follow the piece’s unfolding.

What is it about your process that works for you:

It is fun and easy. Exhilarating and relieving to refer to and rely on what is, moment by moment. Magical and comforting to know that what needs to be revealed will be. We get to relax because we trust in the unfolding. It’s energizing to bring the whole self to the moment. It’s mysterious and exciting while being obvious and grounded.

Have you ever been part of another person’s process that you liked but have not used in your own work? Why?

No, can’t think of that situation. If I like something I want to integrate it, if I don’t I let it go.

Have you ever been part of another person’s process that you liked and used in your own process? Why?

I’ve included the form Authentic Movement in my process since being introduced to it. It provides a foundation of self-study in awareness and movement, a perfect preparation for exploring how we improvise with others in C.I. In general I am drawn to and influenced by systems that explore principles in C.I.

Have you ever been part of another person’s process that you did not like? Why?

Yes, once we experimented with joining another person’s process. We quickly discovered that her process was very different than ours. Experiencing the contrast was useful to identify the distinction. Her process was to bring in ideas for our bodies to realize. Ours was to begin with the body to discover the ideas. The focus was trying to make something instead of being curious about what was already there. We noted a greater tendency for body/psyche injury in the idea driven approach compared to our experience of a tendency toward healing when allowing awareness of what is to inform the thinking. Moving from the outside in rather than the inside out was more effort and less satisfying.

Finally putting a little toe into the digital video age to be able to show as well as tell!

This is an improvised performance at the West Coast C.I. Festival in the mid 90’s. It was one of several that came out of playing with the spectrum of choices from passive to active.

Since then, it has become clear that each of has an automatic pilot that will tend toward a particular place on the spectrum of tone. By becoming aware of our default habits, we are able to choose and explore other options. Each other option that we try on opens a new set of possibilities. And the more options we become comfortable and familiar with the greater our safety and potential. Having options at the ready is key to caring for ourselves as the moment morphs!

Our interest in this spectrum of possibilities continues, ever informing us as we change. There is no end to investigation, ever more to be gleaned, remembered……… By focusing we arrive to take in the details present and exercise our agency in relation to them.

Hope to post a current version of exploring this spectrum, or some other. But, we’ll see as my interest gravitates much more towards the having of experience than the documenting of it (not to mention I’ve been sitting at the computer tooo long again!).

Happy exploring to you in 2017. I’d love to hear (or see) what you’re up to! Feel free to comment below.

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Welcome

This site is dedicated to the research and development of Contact Improvisation.

The Home section of the site is offered as a point of contact for C.I.ers to exchange findings and curiosity, invitations and responses. The dance of C.I. is dialog in an on-going investigation so please use this area as a place to share your discoveries and your quandaries. If you want to 'author' posts please let us know.

The site is hosted by the Touchmonkey thread of investigation, a collaborative outcome of Carolyn Stuart and Patrick Gracewood exploring the possibilities of making contact and improvising.

Contact Improvisation is an invitation to explore movement while in physical contact with others. It is guided by one operative- to take care of yourself, first.

The practice is that of awareness and choice- to stay aware of what is and to explore options in relationship to what is, with regard for mutual well-being (think world peace!).

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